Topics

1

Kind Critique / You know Stevens' rolling in his grave...

« on: March 03, 2018, 07:30:52 PM »

Hello Everybody,

After spending almost six hours yesterday to write a letter to a dear friend — my first ever since (my attempt to) starting learning the engrosser's script hand two months ago — I had really weird dreams last night that involved louds of black ink all over the house :-)) so I woke up with the instant idea of sharing some of my writing to the forum, despite not feeling pleased at all with my general strokes and consistency of the letters.

I would very much appreciate reading your thoughts and sharp critique, especially since I'm not seeing any kind of improvement from myself for about two weeks now, ever since I got my oblique holder and the Leonardt Principal nib which were also used for this piece. If you need any close-up shots, just let me know.

2

Introductions / Greetings from Germany

« on: January 02, 2018, 01:58:40 PM »

Hello Dear “Federfreunde”,

Thank you for accepting me to be part of this special community—I am wishing everybody here the best new year full of wonderful experiences, particularly flourishing ones!

My interest in calligraphy goes way back—even before starting school—and although we've had a calligraphy class during elementary school, I eventually ended up writing less by hand as soon as my parents brought me the first computer. During my high-school and college days in Bucharest, I became a big fan of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, which I still am, but lately I'm rather interested in creating something more personal—especially when it comes to typefaces, calligraphy and lettering.

I am just starting to learn Copperplate. At the moment, I am using a straight pen holder which I bought from an art store here in my town and while I am still looking for an oblique holder to continue my practice of the majuscules 'with the right hand' and grip so to speak, it's pretty difficult to find one in Germany which isn't made out of plastic. I would love to give the adjustable hourglass oblique from Paper & Ink Arts a try, but I'm not sure if I should actually spend around 100,-€ given that I never used an oblique pen before. Chances are good to find here advice and louds of information which I'm sure will help me in taking the right decision in regards to pen holders and to expand my general calligraphy knowledge.

Enjoy the full moon tonight and I'm looking forward to share with you! P.S. Suigetsu (intoxicated by the moon) by Sen-No-Rikyu, ca. 1575.